Systems and methods for sharing content

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can determine a first ephemeral message to be shared through a first unified message thread corresponding to a group of recipients, the first ephemeral message being created by a user operating the computing device. The first ephemeral message can be provided to a social networking system for distribution to the group of recipients through the first unified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged between the group of recipients through the same first unified message thread.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/483,926, filed on Apr. 10, 2017 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR SHARING CONTENT”, which is incorporated in its entirety herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of content sharing. Moreparticularly, the present technology relates to techniques for sharingcontent with users in a networking environment.

BACKGROUND

Users often utilize computing devices for a wide variety of purposes.Users can use their computing devices to, for example, interact with oneanother, access media content, share media content, and create mediacontent. In some cases, media content can be provided by members of asocial network. The media content can include one or a combination oftext, images, videos, and audio. The media content may be published tothe social network for consumption by others.

Under conventional approaches, users may post various content items to asocial networking system. In general, content items posted by a firstuser can be included in the respective content feeds of other users ofthe social networking system, for example, that have “followed” thefirst user. By following (or subscribing to) the first user, some or allcontent that is produced, or posted, by the first user may be includedin the respective content feeds of the following users. A user followingthe first user can simply unfollow the first user to prevent new contentthat is produced by the first user from being included in the followinguser's content feed. Further, some content produced by the first usercan be provided to other users through direct messaging supported by thesocial networking system.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toperform determining a first ephemeral message to be shared through afirst unified message thread corresponding to a group of recipients, thefirst ephemeral message being created by a user operating the computingdevice; and providing the first ephemeral message to a social networkingsystem for distribution to the group of recipients through the firstunified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages andnon-ephemeral messages are exchanged between the group of recipientsthrough the same first unified message thread.

In some embodiments, the first ephemeral message is sent with a messagerequest to at least one recipient in the group, and wherein the firstephemeral message cannot be viewed by the recipient until the recipientaccepts the message request.

In some embodiments, the recipient is permitted to view text associatedwith the first ephemeral message without having accepted the messagerequest but not the remainder of the first ephemeral message itself.

In some embodiments, the first ephemeral message is not shown to theuser operating the computing device in the first unified message thread.

In some embodiments, the user operating the computing device ispermitted to view the first ephemeral message in the first unifiedmessage thread for a pre-defined number of times.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform determining that the useroperating the computing device has selected an option to recall thefirst ephemeral message; and preventing recipients in the group fromaccessing the first ephemeral message.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform providing an interfaceincluding a set of options for sharing the first ephemeral message, theset of options including at least a first option for sharing the firstephemeral message as a story and a second option for sharing the firstephemeral message through the first unified message thread correspondingto the group of recipients; and determining that the user operating thecomputing has selected at least the second option.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to determining at least one notificationcorresponding to the first ephemeral message, the notificationdescribing a seen state for a recipient in the group; and providing thenotification for display through the computing device.

In some embodiments, the seen state indicates the first ephemeralmessage was delivered to the recipient, viewed by the recipient, orreplayed by the recipient.

In some embodiments, access to the first ephemeral message expires afteroccurrence of some pre-defined event, and wherein access to anon-ephemeral message does not expire.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toprovide a messaging interface, the messaging interface including one ormore options for accessing at least one unified message thread, whereinboth ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged betweena group of users through the unified message thread. A determination canbe made that a user operating the computing device has created a messageto be sent through the unified message thread. The message can beprovided for distribution to the group of users through the unifiedmessage thread.

In some embodiments, the message is an ephemeral message or anon-ephemeral message.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform determining that the userselected an option to reply to an ephemeral message in the unifiedmessage thread; and executing a camera application for capturing contentto be included in the message.

In some embodiments, the user performed a first gesture when selectingthe option to reply, and wherein the camera application is configured tocapture images in response to the first gesture.

In some embodiments, the user performed a second gesture when selectingthe option to reply, and wherein the camera application is configured tocapture video in response to the second gesture.

In some embodiments, the message is sent with the captured contentthrough the unified message thread as an ephemeral message.

In some embodiments, access to the ephemeral message expires afteroccurrence of some pre-defined event.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform determining that the userselected an option to reply to a non-ephemeral message in the unifiedmessage thread; and providing a virtual keyboard for inputting text tobe included in the message.

In some embodiments, the message is sent with the inputted text throughthe unified message thread as a non-ephemeral message.

In some embodiments, access to a non-ephemeral message does not expire.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toprovide a messaging interface, the messaging interface including one ormore options for accessing at least one unified message thread, whereinboth ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged betweena group of users through the unified message thread. A determination canbe made that a user operating the computing device has accessed theunified message thread. Content relating to the unified message threadcan be provided for display through the computing device.

In some embodiments, a name of the unified message thread is shown in adistinctive color when at least one unseen ephemeral message isaccessible through the unified message thread.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform providing unseen messages inthe unified message thread for display through an immersive contentviewer.

In some embodiments, unseen ephemeral messages are presented beforeunseen non-ephemeral messages.

In some embodiments, the unified message thread is accessible through achevron associated with the unified message thread.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to perform providing access to the unifiedmessage thread through an interface, wherein one or more messagesexchanged through the unified message thread are individuallyaccessible.

In some embodiments, the unified message thread is associated with a setof avatars corresponding to users that sent one or more messages throughthe unified message thread.

In some embodiments, the avatars correspond to users that sent ephemeralmessages which have not been viewed.

In some embodiments, the avatars are ordered and presented as a stack.

In some embodiments, avatars corresponding to users that sent ephemeralmessages are ordered before avatars corresponding to users that sentnon-ephemeral messages.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an example contentprovider module, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example messaging module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example interface module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example message module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example reply module, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-4J illustrate example interfaces, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate an example methods, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Approaches for Sharing Content

As mentioned, users often utilize computing devices for a wide varietyof purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example,interact with one another, access media content, share media content,and create media content. In some cases, media content items can includepostings from members of an online community or platform, such as asocial network. The postings may include one or a combination of text,images, videos, and audio. The postings may be published to the socialnetwork for consumption by others. Under conventional approaches, mediacontent items posted by a member can be included in a profile of themember on the social network. In other instances, media content itemsposted by the member can appear in respective media content feeds ofother users who are members of the social network. The other users canbe connections of the member who posted the media content items.

Under conventional approaches, users can confront various challengeswhen exchanging messages (or direct messages, instant message, etc.)with other users through a social networking system. In some instances,users may want to send certain messages without having to worry aboutthose messages being accessible for some extended period of time.Further, having the option to send messages with limited lifespan canhelp users express themselves more fully when communicating with otherusers. For example, a user may be more willing to send a video of theuser singing if the video is accessible for only a limited period oftime. In other instances, users may be less concerned about messagesbeing available indefinitely. Conventional techniques employed by asocial networking system often cannot accommodate these dual interests.Accordingly, user experience can suffer, discouraging users from sharingcontent through the social networking system.

An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes theforegoing and other disadvantages associated with conventionalapproaches specifically arising in the realm of computer technology. Thepresent technology can determine a first ephemeral message to be sharedthrough a first unified message thread corresponding to a group ofrecipients. The first ephemeral message can be created by a useroperating a computing device. The first ephemeral message can beprovided to a social networking system for distribution to the group ofrecipients through the first unified message thread. Both ephemeralmessages and non-ephemeral messages can be exchanged between the groupof recipients through the same first unified message thread. As usedherein, messages exchanged “between” users or a group of users caninclude exchanges between two users and exchanges among three or moreusers. More details relating to the disclosed technology are providedbelow.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an example contentprovider module 102, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the content providermodule 102 can include a content module 104, a follow module 106, aninteraction module 108, and a messaging module 110. In some instances,the example system 100 can include at least one data store 112. Thecomponents (e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in this figure and allfigures herein are exemplary only, and other implementations may includeadditional, fewer, integrated, or different components. Some componentsmay not be shown so as not to obscure relevant details.

In some embodiments, the content provider module 102 can be implemented,in part or in whole, as software, hardware, or any combination thereof.In general, a module as discussed herein can be associated withsoftware, hardware, or any combination thereof. In some implementations,one or more functions, tasks, and/or operations of modules can becarried out or performed by software routines, software processes,hardware, and/or any combination thereof. In some cases, the contentprovider module 102 can be implemented, in part or in whole, as softwarerunning on one or more computing devices or systems, such as on a useror client computing device. In one example, the content provider module102 or at least a portion thereof can be implemented as or within anapplication (e.g., app), a program, or an applet, etc., running on auser computing device or a client computing system, such as the userdevice 610 of FIG. 6. In another example, the content provider module102 or at least a portion thereof can be implemented using one or morecomputing devices or systems that include one or more servers, such asnetwork servers or cloud servers. In some instances, the contentprovider module 102 can, in part or in whole, be implemented within orconfigured to operate in conjunction with a social networking system (orservice), such as the social networking system 630 of FIG. 6.

The content provider module 102 can be configured to communicate and/oroperate with the at least one data store 112, as shown in the examplesystem 100. The at least one data store 112 can be configured to storeand maintain various types of data. For example, the data store 112 canstore information describing various content that has been posted orselectively shared by users of a social networking system. In someimplementations, the at least one data store 112 can store informationassociated with the social networking system (e.g., the socialnetworking system 630 of FIG. 6). The information associated with thesocial networking system can include data about users, socialconnections, social interactions, locations, geo-fenced areas, maps,places, events, pages, groups, posts, communications, content, feeds,account settings, privacy settings, a social graph, and various othertypes of data. In some implementations, the at least one data store 112can store information associated with users, such as user identifiers,user information, profile information, user specified settings, contentproduced or posted by users, and various other types of user data.

The content module 104 can be configured to provide users with access tocontent (e.g., media content items) that is available through a socialnetworking system. In some instances, this content can include contentitems that are posted in content feeds accessible through the socialnetworking system. For example, the content module 104 can provide afirst user with access to media content items through an interface thatis provided by a software application (e.g., a social networkingapplication) running on a computing device of the first user. The firstuser can also interact with the interface to post content items to thesocial networking system. Such content items may include text, images,audio, and videos, for example. For example, the first user can submit apost to be published through the social networking system. In someembodiments, the post can include, or reference, one or more contentitems. In some embodiments, posts published through the socialnetworking system must include at least one content item.

In various embodiments, other users of the social networking system canaccess content items posted by the first user. In one example, the otherusers can access the content items by searching for the first user, forexample, by user name through an interface provided by a softwareapplication (e.g., a social networking application, browser, etc.)running on their respective computing devices. In some instances, someusers may want to see content items posted by the first user in theirrespective content feed. To cause content items posted by the first userto be included in their respective content feed, a user can select anoption through the interface to subscribe to, or “follow”, the firstuser. The follow module 106 can process the user's request byidentifying the user as a follower of (or “friend” of) the first user inthe social networking system. As a result, some or all content itemsthat are posted by the first user can automatically be included in therespective content feed of the user. If the user decides that they nolonger want to see content from the first user in their respectivecontent feed, the user can select an option through the interface to“unfollow” the first user. As a result, the follow module 106 can removethe association between the user and the first user so that contentitems posted by the first user are no longer included in the contentfeed of the user.

In some instances, users may want to interact with posted content items.For example, a user may want to endorse, or “like”, a content item. Inthis example, the user can select an option provided in the interface tolike the desired content item. The interaction module 108 can determinewhen a user likes a given content item and can store informationdescribing this relationship. The interaction module 108 can alsodetermine when other forms of user interaction are performed and canstore information describing the interaction (e.g., informationdescribing the type of interaction, the identity of the user, theidentity of the user that posted the content item, and the content item,to name some examples). For example, the user may want to post a commentin response to a content item. In this example, the user can select anoption provided in the interface to enter and post the comment for thedesired content item. The interaction module 108 can determine when auser posts a comment in response to a given content item and can storeinformation describing this relationship. Other forms of userinteraction can include reacting to a content item (e.g., selecting anoption that corresponds to a particular reaction, such as happy, sad,angry, etc.) and sharing a content item, to name some examples.

In various embodiments, the messaging module 110 is configured toprovide direct messaging (or instant messaging) options to users of thesocial networking system. For example, users can exchange directmessages with other users of the social networking system. The messagescan include any combination of text, images, video, audio, and othertypes of content. In some embodiments, users can decide whether messagesare sent as ephemeral messages or non-ephemeral messages. More detailsregarding the messaging module 110 will be provided below with referenceto FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates a messaging module 202, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. In some embodiments, the messaging module 110 ofFIG. 1 can be implemented with the messaging module 202. As shown in theexample of FIG. 2, the messaging module 202 can include an interfacemodule 204, a message module 206, and a reply module 208.

In various embodiments, the interface module 204 can be configured toprovide a graphical user interface through which a user can sendmessages and access received messages. In general, a message may be sentas an ephemeral message or a non-ephemeral message. More detailsregarding the interface module 204 will be provided below with referenceto FIG. 3A.

In some embodiments, the message module 206 can provide various optionsfor creating and/or sending messages (e.g., ephemeral messages,non-ephemeral messages) through a social networking system. In someembodiments, messages can include text or content (e.g., images, videos,or audio), or a combination thereof. As mentioned, a user has the optionto send messages as ephemeral messages and/or non-ephemeral messages. Invarious embodiments, both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messagesexchanged between a group of users can be sent through a unified messagethread corresponding to that group. A unified message thread for a groupof users (e.g., a user and one or more other users) can be created, forexample, when an initial message is communicated among users in thegroup. This unified message thread can be used to manage communicationsbetween the users in the group on an on-going basis. The membership ofsuch unified message threads can vary over time, for example, as newusers are added to the group or when existing users leave the group.More details regarding the message module 206 will be provided belowwith reference to FIG. 3B.

In various embodiments, the reply module 208 can provide various optionsfor replying to messages through the social networking system. In someembodiments, the options available for replying to a given message mayvary based on whether the message is ephemeral or non-ephemeral. Moredetails regarding the reply module 208 will be provided below withreference to FIG. 3C.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example interface module 302, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the interfacemodule 204 of FIG. 2 can be implemented with the interface module 302.As shown in the example of FIG. 3A, the interface module 302 can includea feed pane module 304, a message pane module 306, and a camera panemodule 308.

In various embodiments, the interface module 302 can be configured toprovide a graphical user interface through which a user can accesscontent and exchange messages. For example, this interface may beprovided through a software application (e.g., social networkingapplication) running on a computing device being operated by the user.In some embodiments, the interface provides various functionalitythrough different panes (or screens) that are accessible through theinterface.

For example, in some embodiments, the feed pane module 304 can beconfigured to provide access to various content (or media) feeds thatare accessible through the social networking system. These content feedsmay include ephemeral content feeds and/or non-ephemeral content feedscorresponding to users of the social networking system. An ephemeralcontent feed of a given user can include ephemeral media content itemsthat were shared by that user. In some embodiments, ephemeral messagesposted in the user's ephemeral content feed are accessible by otherusers of the social networking system and/or by other users that arefollowing the user. A non-ephemeral content feed of a given user caninclude non-ephemeral media content items that were shared by that user.Further, in some embodiments, non-ephemeral messages posted in theuser's non-ephemeral content feed are accessible by other users of thesocial networking system and/or by other users that are following theuser.

In some embodiments, the message pane module 306 provides access to amessage pane through which the user can send and access messages (e.g.,ephemeral messages, non-ephemeral messages). For example, the user canaccess the message pane by selecting an option through the interfaceand/or by performing a touch screen gesture (e.g., swipe gesture). Themessage pane can provide the user with access to unified messagethreads. In some embodiments, ephemeral messages and non-ephemeralmessages exchanged between a group of users can be accessed through thesame unified message thread corresponding to that group.

In some embodiments, the camera pane module 308 provides access to acamera pane through which users can capture various forms of mediacontent items (e.g., images, videos, looping videos, etc.). For example,the user can access the camera pane by selecting an option through theinterface and/or by performing a touch screen gesture (e.g., swipegesture). In some embodiments, accessing the camera pane causes a cameraapplication to execute on the computing device being operated by theuser. In some instances, the camera pane module 308 can automaticallyactivate the camera application when the user selects an option to replyto an ephemeral message. Once activated, the user can interact with thecamera application to produce content (e.g., an ephemeral media contentitem) that can be sent as a response to the ephemeral message.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example message module 322, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the messagemodule 206 of FIG. 2 can be implemented with the message module 322. Asshown in the example of FIG. 3B, the message module 322 can include aunified thread module 324, an ephemeral message module 326, anon-ephemeral message module 328, a recall module 330, a message privacymodule 332, a send state module 334, a seen state module 336, an avatarmodule 338, a thread ranking module 340, an interaction module 342, asharing interface module 344, and a notification module 346.

The unified thread module 324 can be configured to manage messagesexchanged between users. In various embodiments, the unified threadmodule 324 can create and manage unified message threads through whichusers can exchange both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages.For example, a user can select an option to send a message (e.g.,ephemeral message, non-ephemeral message). Upon selecting the option,the user can create the message and provide the names (or usernames) ofone or more recipients of the message. After selecting an option to sendthe message, the unified thread module 324 can create a unified messagethread that manages messages (e.g., ephemeral messages, non-ephemeralmessages) exchanged between the user and the one or more recipients. Ifa unified message thread between the user and the recipients alreadyexists, then the unified thread module 324 can send the message throughthe existing unified message thread. Thus, depending on the types ofmessages communicated by members of a given unified message thread, theunified message thread may include only non-ephemeral messages, onlyephemeral messages, or a combination thereof.

The ephemeral message module 326 provides functionality for sending andaccessing ephemeral messages. In some embodiments, the ephemeral messagemodule 326 can regulate access to ephemeral messages. For example, insome embodiments, an ephemeral message sent to a designated recipientcan be accessible by the recipient until some pre-defined event. Forexample, the ephemeral message can remain accessible to the recipientuntil the recipient has accessed (e.g., seen) the ephemeral messagethrough the social networking system. In instances where an ephemeralmessage was sent to a group of users, the ephemeral message can remainaccessible to each recipient in the group until that recipient hasaccessed (e.g., seen) the ephemeral message through the socialnetworking system. In some embodiments, ephemeral messages sent to agiven recipient can be accessed by the recipient for some pre-definednumber of times (e.g., once, twice, etc.) after which the ephemeralmessages can no longer be accessed by the recipient. In someembodiments, once this pre-defined limit is reached, a view optionassociated with the ephemeral message becomes a tombstone (or anchor) toindicate that a user previously sent an ephemeral message. Similarly, anephemeral message sent to a group of users can remain accessible by eachuser for some pre-defined number of times (e.g., once, twice, etc.).Thus, each recipient can access the ephemeral message for thepre-defined number of times after which the ephemeral message can nolonger be accessed by that recipient. In some embodiments, an ephemeralmessage accessed during a given session can continue to be accessed bythe user during the same session for some pre-defined period of time. Insome embodiments, a session may be defined as a period of time duringwhich the user accesses a unified message thread through which theephemeral message was received. In some embodiments, the session beginswhen the user enters the unified message thread and ends when the userexists the unified message thread. In some embodiments, the ephemeralmessage module 326 restricts the types of content that can be sent asephemeral messages. For example, in some embodiments, messages beingsent as ephemeral messages may be restricted to visual content (e.g.,images, videos, graphical text, animated text, etc., and combinationsthereof). In such embodiments, at least some of this visual content maybe captured using a camera application provided by the camera panemodule 308.

In some embodiments, the non-ephemeral message module 328 providesfunctionality for sending and accessing non-ephemeral messages. In someembodiments, the non-ephemeral message module 328 can regulate access tonon-ephemeral messages. For example, in some embodiments, anon-ephemeral message can be accessible to a designated recipient for anindefinite period of time (e.g., permanently) without having itsexpiration, if any, being conditioned on some pre-defined event, somepre-defined period of time, or a limit to the number of times thenon-ephemeral message may be accessed. In some embodiments, thenon-ephemeral message module 328 can restrict messages being sent asnon-ephemeral messages to text-based messages. For instance, suchtext-based messages can appear in a predetermined style, font, and sizethat a user cannot customize. In some embodiments, content can also besent as non-ephemeral messages. For example, this content may includecontent items (e.g., images, videos, etc.) accessible through a mediagallery that is stored in (or accessible through) the user's computingdevice. In some embodiments, text-based messages and messages includingcontent being shared from a media gallery are treated as non-ephemeralmessages.

In some embodiments, the recall module 330 can provide an option torecall messages (e.g., ephemeral messages, non-ephemeral messages). Forexample, a user that sent a message can recall the message provided thatno recipients have viewed the message. Once recalled, no recipient ofthe message will be able to access the message. In some embodiments,such access restrictions for the message can be enabled by expiring aUniform Resource Locator (URL) that references the message.

In some embodiments, messaging between users may be restricted based onvarious criteria. For example, in some embodiments, the message privacymodule 332 may require that a first user to be following a second userbefore any messages from the second user can be sent to the first user.In some embodiments, the message privacy module 332 may require that thefirst user and the second user to be following one another before anymessages can be communicated between the first user and the second user.In some embodiments, such restrictions may be limited to ephemeralmessages communicated between the first user and the second user. Insome embodiments, a first user may send an ephemeral message or anon-ephemeral message to any other user of the social networking system.In such embodiments, the message privacy module 332 can send the messagewith a message request. The recipient of the message can accept themessage request to view the message. In some embodiments, once a messagerequest from a sender is accepted by a recipient, subsequent messagesfrom the sender are delivered to the recipient without additionalmessage requests. In some embodiments, when the message is an ephemeralmessage, the recipient is permitted to view any text associated with theephemeral message without having accepted the message request but notthe remainder of the ephemeral message itself. For example, textassociated with the ephemeral message may be a description that wasprovided for content (e.g., images, videos, etc.) included in theephemeral message.

In some embodiments, ephemeral and non-ephemeral messages exchangedbetween users can be assigned respective send states. For example, insome embodiments, a message sent through the social networking system isassigned a timestamp indicating when the message was sent. Thistimestamp can be shown in a corresponding message thread through whichthe message was communicated, for example. In some embodiments, the sendstate module 334 can assign a corresponding state to the sent message.In such embodiments, the state for the sent message may be “delivered”when the message has been delivered to its recipients, “seen” (or“read”) when the message has been accessed (or viewed) by a thresholdnumber of the recipients (e.g., one recipient, all recipients, etc.), or“replayed” when the message was re-accessed (or replayed) by a thresholdnumber of the recipients (e.g., one recipient, all recipients, etc.).

In some embodiments, seen states can be managed differently depending onwhether a message is an ephemeral message or a non-ephemeral message.For example, in some embodiments, the seen state module 336 can maintainseen states for ephemeral messages on a per-message basis. In someembodiments, a corresponding seen state can be maintained for eachrecipient of an ephemeral message. In such embodiments, the seen statecan indicate whether the recipient has accessed (or viewed) theephemeral message. For example, an ephemeral message sent to a firstuser and a second user can be associated with a first seen statecorresponding to the first user and a second seen state corresponding tothe second user. These seen states can be used to determine whichephemeral messages still need to be presented to a given user. Forexample, when a user accesses a given unified message thread, the seenstate module 336 can identify ephemeral messages sent through theunified message thread that have not been seen by the user. These unseenephemeral messages can then be presented to the user, for example, inchronological order through an immersive content viewer.

In some embodiments, a seen state corresponding to a given ephemeralmessage and user is managed using a uniform resource locator (URL) thatreferences the ephemeral message. In such embodiments, a timestampindicating when the user accessed the ephemeral message can be appendedto the URL. In some embodiments, this timestamp is signed using acryptographic key to ensure its authenticity. Any user attempts toaccess the ephemeral message after this timestamp will be denied. Ininstances where the ephemeral message is sent to a group of users, thena separate URL and timestamp can be maintained for each user in thegroup.

In some embodiments, the seen state module 336 can maintain seen statesfor non-ephemeral messages on a per-thread basis. For example, in someembodiments, a corresponding seen state can be maintained for eachunified message thread that is accessible to a given user. In suchembodiments, the seen state can indicate whether the user has accessed agiven unified message thread. Thus, for example, the seen state for aunified message thread that includes one or more unseen non-ephemeralmessages, none of which have been accessed by the user, will indicatethat the user has not viewed the messages. In this example, once theuser has accessed the unified message thread, the seen state will beupdated to indicate that the user has viewed messages in the thread evenif the user has not viewed all of the messages, such as new messages.

The avatar module 338 can be configured to manage and display avatarsthat are representative of content in a given unified message thread.For example, in some embodiments, users can select respective avatars.In one example, a user may create an avatar using a content item (e.g.,static image, animated image, video, etc.) that is representative of theuser. In some embodiments, this avatar can be shown alongside messagessent by the user so that recipients of those messages can easilyassociate the messages with the user. In some embodiments, a set ofavatars associated with a unified message thread can be presented as astack. In such embodiments, each avatar in the stack can each representa user that is a member of the unified message thread. In someembodiments, avatars associated with a unified message thread correspondto users that sent ephemeral messages which have not been viewed. Insome embodiments, avatars associated with a given message threadcorrespond to users that sent ephemeral messages and/or non-ephemeralmessages which have not been viewed. In some embodiments, a set ofavatars associated with a unified message thread can be layered (orranked). In some embodiments, layering (or ranking) of the set ofavatars can be customized. For example, in some embodiments, an avatarof a user that sent the oldest unseen ephemeral message is displayed ontop of a stack of avatars. In some embodiments, when a given messagethread includes ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages, avatarscorresponding to users that sent the ephemeral messages are prioritizedin appearance over, or shown at a level in a stack higher than, avatarscorresponding to users that sent the non-ephemeral messages. In someembodiments, when a set of avatars associated with a unified messagethread is selected, any unseen ephemeral messages sent through theunified message thread can be presented or displayed. In someembodiments, these unseen ephemeral messages are played (or displayed)chronologically in the order they were received, for example, through animmersive content viewer.

The thread ranking module 340 can be configured to determine an order(or rank) in which unified message threads are presented in aninterface. In some embodiments, the ranking of unified message threadsis personalized for each user. For example, in some embodiments, thethread ranking module 340 ranks unified message threads based on howoften a user interacts with a given message thread. For example, a firstunified message thread can be ranked higher than a second unifiedmessage thread if the first unified message thread is accessed moreoften than the second unified message thread. In some embodiments, thethread ranking module 340 ranks unified message threads based on howmany messages the user sends through a given message thread. Forexample, a first unified message thread can be ranked higher than asecond unified message thread if the user sends more messages throughthe first unified message thread than the second unified message thread.In some embodiments, the thread ranking module 340 ranks unified messagethreads based on a relationship strength between the user and one ormore members of a given unified message thread. For example, a firstunified message thread can be ranked higher than a second unifiedmessage thread if the first unified message thread includes at least onemember having a stronger relationship strength (or affinity score) tothe user than any members included in the second unified message thread.In some embodiments, unified message threads can be identified andsuggested to a user as candidates for sending a message using theapproaches described above. The user can select any of these unifiedmessage threads to cause the message to be delivered to members of thatunified message thread.

The interaction module 342 can provide options for interacting withmessages exchanged through unified message threads. For example, in someembodiments, users can like messages (e.g., double tap to like) sent byother members of the message thread. Other forms of user interaction caninclude reacting to a content item (e.g., selecting an option thatcorresponds to a particular reaction, such as happy, sad, angry, etc.)and sharing a content item, to name some examples.

The sharing interface module 344 can provide a user with options forsharing messages (e.g., ephemeral messages, non-ephemeral messages) withother users. In some embodiments, the sharing interface module 344 canprovide an interface that includes an option for sharing a message as astory, as described in more detail herein. In this example, the sharedstory may be published through the user's ephemeral content feed. Insome embodiments, the sharing interface module 344 can provide optionsfor sharing the message through one or more unified message threads. Insome embodiments, the sharing interface module 344 can rank optionscorresponding to unified message threads in a sharing interface. In someembodiments, unified message threads can be ranked for a user based onrelationship strengths (or affinity scores) between the user and one ormore members in the unified message threads. For example, a firstunified message thread that includes a first member can be ranked higherthan a second unified message thread that includes a second member whenan affinity score between the user and the first member is greater thanan affinity score between the user and the second member. In someembodiments, unified message threads can be ranked based on members withwhom the user frequently communicates. For example, in some embodiments,a first unified message thread that includes a first member can beranked higher than a second unified message thread that includes asecond member when the user and the first member communicate morefrequently than the user and the second member. In some embodiments,unified message threads can be ordered manually based on userpreference. For example, the user has the option to make certain unifiedmessage threads sticky. In such embodiments, these sticky unifiedmessage threads remain in the order specified by the user regardless ofany algorithmically determined order.

The notification module 346 can send notifications to users that sharecontent (e.g., ephemeral messages, non-ephemeral messages). In someembodiments, a sender of a given message can be provided notificationscorresponding to each recipient of the message. For example, the sendercan be notified when the message has been delivered to a recipient. Inanother example, the sender can be notified when a recipient views themessage. In yet another example, the sender can be notified when arecipient replays (or re-accesses) the message. In some embodiments, asender can be notified when another user (e.g., recipient) captures ascreenshot of the sender's message. In general, notifications may beprovided through an interface (e.g., messaging interface) or as directmessages.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example reply module 362, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the replymodule 208 of FIG. 2 can be implemented with the reply module 362. Asshown in the example of FIG. 3C, the reply module 362 can include anephemeral reply module 364 and a non-ephemeral reply module 366.

As mentioned, users typically have the option to reply to messagesreceived from other users. In some embodiments, the options availablefor replying to a given message can vary based on whether the message isephemeral or non-ephemeral. For example, when a user receives anephemeral message, the ephemeral reply module 364 can provide the userwith options for responding to the ephemeral message. In someembodiments, the ephemeral reply module 364 provides the user with anoption to reply to the ephemeral message with the user's own ephemeralmessage. In such embodiments, the ephemeral reply module 364 providesthe user with an option to create a new ephemeral message. In someembodiments, the user can generate the ephemeral message by creatingvisual content (e.g., images, videos, graphical text, animated text,etc., and combinations thereof) that will be provided as the ephemeralmessage. In some embodiments, at least some of this visual content maybe captured using a camera application provided by the camera panemodule 308. In some embodiments, the visual content is created usingvarious tools for sending graphical text responses. For example,graphical text responses may be created using tools for inputting textsuch as a virtual keyboard. In this example the inputted text can bedecorated, for example, by applying different colors, fonts, and/oranimations, to name some examples. In some embodiments, the ephemeralreply module 364 provides the user with an option to reply to anephemeral message with a non-ephemeral message. In such embodiments, thenon-ephemeral message will appear in the same unified message threadthrough which the ephemeral message was sent.

In various embodiments, when a first user receives a non-ephemeralmessage from a second user, the non-ephemeral reply module 366 canprovide the first user with options for responding to the non-ephemeralmessage. In some embodiments, the non-ephemeral reply module 366provides the first user with an option to reply to the non-ephemeralmessage with the first user's own non-ephemeral message. In suchembodiments, the non-ephemeral reply module 366 provides the first userwith an option to create a new non-ephemeral message. For example, thefirst user can create and send a new text-based message in response tothe received non-ephemeral message. In this example, the text-basedmessage is sent through a unified message thread that is created betweenthe first user and the second user. As mentioned, in variousembodiments, any ephemeral messages exchanged between the first user andthe second user can also appear in this same unified message thread. Insome embodiments, the first user also has the option to sendcontent-based messages in response to the non-ephemeral message. Forexample, the first user can select an option to access a gallery ofcontent items (e.g., images, videos, etc.) that are available to beshared. These content items may be stored on a computing device beingoperated by the first user or may otherwise be available to thecomputing device, for example, through cloud-based storage.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example 400 of an interface 404, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the interface 404is presented through a display screen of a computing device 402.Further, the interface 404 may be provided through an application (e.g.,a web browser, a social networking application, messenger application,etc.) running on the computing device 402 that is configured to interactwith a social networking system.

In the example of FIG. 4A, the interface 404 corresponds to a feed panethat provides access to one or more ephemeral content feeds 408 througha first region 406 of the interface 404. The ephemeral content feeds 408include an ephemeral content feed 410 corresponding to a user operatingthe computing device 402. The feed pane also provides access to anon-ephemeral content feed corresponding to the user through a secondregion 412 of the interface 404. In this example, the non-ephemeralcontent feed includes a content item 413 that was published in thenon-ephemeral content feed.

In some embodiments, the user operating the computing device 402 canaccess a camera pane interface 414 as illustrated in the example of FIG.4B. The interface 414 may be accessed, for example, by performing atouch screen gesture (e.g., swipe gesture). For example, the user canaccess the camera pane interface 414 from the interface 404 by swipingto the right. The camera pane interface 414 can be used to capturevarious forms of media (e.g., images, videos, boomerangs, etc.). In someembodiments, accessing the camera pane interface 414 causes a cameraapplication to execute on the computing device 402 being operated by theuser. In some instances, the camera pane interface 414 can automaticallybe presented in response to the user selecting an option to reply to anephemeral message.

In some embodiments, the user operating the computing device 402 canaccess a message pane interface 418 as illustrated in the example ofFIG. 4C. The interface 418 may be accessed, for example, by performing atouch screen gesture (e.g., swipe gesture). For example, the user canaccess the message pane interface 418 from the interface 404 by swipingto the left. The interface 418 can provide access to a message panethrough which the user can send and access messages. In someembodiments, such messages are exchanged through unified messagethreads. A unified message thread 428 can be associated with a set ofone or more avatars 430. The set of avatars 430 can appear as a stack.Each avatar can each represent a user that is a member of the unifiedmessage thread. In some embodiments, avatars associated with a givenunified message thread correspond to users that sent ephemeral messageswhich have not been viewed by the user operating the computing device402. In some embodiments, avatars associated with a given unifiedmessage thread correspond to users that sent ephemeral messages and/ornon-ephemeral messages which have not been viewed by the user operatingthe computing device 402. In some embodiments, the set of avatars 430can be layered (or ranked). In some embodiments, layering (or ranking)of the set of avatars 430 can be customized or otherwise based on theuser operating the computing device 402. For example, in someembodiments, an avatar of a user that sent the oldest ephemeral messageunseen by the user operating the computing device 402 is displayed ontop of the set of avatars 430. In some embodiments, when a given unifiedmessage thread includes ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages,avatars corresponding to users that sent the ephemeral messages areprioritized in appearance over, or shown at a level in a stack higherthan, avatars corresponding to users that sent the non-ephemeralmessages. In some embodiments, when the set of avatars 430 is selected,the interface 418 can present or display the unseen ephemeral messagesthat were sent by users associated with the set of avatars 430. In someembodiments, these unseen ephemeral messages are played (or displayed)chronologically in the order they were received, for example, through animmersive content viewer 440 as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4D.In some embodiments, the immersive content viewer 440 presents allunseen ephemeral messages that were exchanged through the unifiedmessage thread first followed by all unseen non-ephemeral messages thatwere exchanged through the same unified message thread. In someembodiments, the user can bypass this presentation of content throughthe immersive content viewer 440 by selecting a chevron 438 associatedwith a unified message thread 420. In such embodiments, selecting thechevron 438 causes the unified message thread 420 to be presented, forexample, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4G. While accessing theunified message thread 420, the user can individually select to viewunseen ephemeral messages one at a time. In some embodiments, areference associated with a message thread, such as text (e.g., a name424 of the unified message thread 420) associated with a message thread,is presented with a distinctive mark or identifier, such as a particularcolor (e.g., blue), when at least one unseen ephemeral message isaccessible through the unified message thread 420.

In various embodiments, the interface 418 can provide informationcorresponding to each of the message threads. For example, in someembodiments, the interface 418 can provide a description of the lastmessage 432 that was sent in a given unified message thread and the nameof the sender (e.g., “View story from Lynn”, “Joey sent a photo”). Insome embodiments, the interface 418 can provide seen state information434 for a message that was sent by the user operating the computingdevice 402 (e.g., Delivered, Opened, Opened by some number of users). Insome embodiments, the interface 418 can provide a description of thelast action 436 that was performed by the user with respect to a givenunified message thread (e.g., “You replied to Joey”, “You sent aphoto”).

In some embodiments, a reply option (or button) 426 for replying to oneor more ephemeral messages in a given unified message thread can beprovided. In such embodiments, the user can select (e.g., tap) the replyoption 426 to access the camera pane interface 414. The user can thencapture content, such as an image or video, using the camera paneinterface 414. This captured content can be sent as one or moreephemeral messages directly through the unified message threadassociated with the reply option 426. In some embodiments, the user canlong-press the reply option 426 to access the camera pane interface 414with the camera automatically actively capturing video content. In someembodiments, when the last message shared in a unified message thread isa non-ephemeral message, selecting a reply option associated with theunified message thread causes the thread to be presented as illustratedin FIG. 4G. In some embodiments, a virtual keyboard is presented if thenon-ephemeral message being replied to is a text message.

In some embodiments, the interface 418 also includes one or more options422 that can be selected to send an ephemeral message. In someembodiments, the option 422 corresponds to a camera icon. In someembodiments, the option 422 is presented in a particular color (e.g.,blue) to signify that content captured using the camera is ephemeral andmay be sent as ephemeral messages. Upon selecting the option 422, theuser can be presented with the camera pane interface 414. The user cancapture one or more content items through the camera pane interface 414,as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4E. When a desired content item442 has been captured, the user can share the content item 442 throughone or more unified message threads 444 and/or as a story 446, which canbe selected directly from the camera pane interface 443. In someembodiments, the unified message threads 444 shown in the camera paneinterface 443 are ranked based on various approaches. For example, theunified message threads 444 may be ranked based on how often the userinteracts with a given unified message thread, how many messages theuser sends through a given unified message thread, and/or a relationshipstrength between the user and one or more members of a given unifiedmessage thread. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the user can selectan option 448 to share the content item 442 with other users. Afterselecting the option 448, the user can be presented with a sharinginterface 452, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4F. The user thenhas several options for sharing the content item 442. For example, theuser can share the content item 442 as a story that is published throughthe user's ephemeral content feed 410. In this example, the shared storymay be published through the user's ephemeral content feed 410 byselecting an option 455. This story can be consumed by other users(e.g., followers) that can access the user's ephemeral content feed 410.In some embodiments, content items (e.g., the content item 442) postedas stories through an ephemeral content feed are accessible by the otherusers for a pre-determined time period, such as 24-hour period. Oncethis pre-determined time period expires, the content items are removed(or made inaccessible) from the ephemeral content feed. In addition tosharing the content item 442 as a story, the user can also provide thecontent item 442 as an ephemeral message to other users of the socialnetworking system as a direct message. A direct message region 454 ofthe interface 452 can display avatars 456 corresponding to one or moreunified message threads. In some embodiments, these unified messagethreads are selected and ranked. For example, the message threads 444may be ranked based on how often the user interacts with a given unifiedmessage thread, how many messages the user sends through a given unifiedmessage thread, and/or a relationship strength between the user and oneor more members of a given unified message thread. The user can selectone or more of these unified message threads as recipients of thecontent item 442. In the example of FIG. 4F, the user has selected amessage group 458 as the recipient of the ephemeral message whichincludes the content item 442. If other recipients are intended, theuser can select an option 460 to create a new unified message threadwith a different recipient or group of recipients. The options forsharing content items are not mutually exclusive. That is, the user canshare the content item 442 as a story, as a direct message, or both. Asmentioned, the content item 442 will have an ephemeral life span ofpre-determined time period (e.g., 24 hours) when shared as a story. Ifsent as an ephemeral message to another user, the content item 442 willbe accessible until the other user accesses the ephemeral message, untilthe other user accesses the ephemeral message a pre-defined number oftimes, or for as long as the other user is engaged in a sessionassociated with a unified message thread including the content item 442,as just some examples.

FIG. 4G illustrates an example message thread interface 462 presentingcontent that was shared by members of a given unified message thread 463(e.g., “Team Chat”). As mentioned, members of the unified message thread463 can share both ephemeral and non-ephemeral messages through the samethread 463. In the example of FIG. 4G, ephemeral messages received frommembers can be accessed by selecting a corresponding view option. Forexample, an ephemeral message containing a photo can be accessed byselecting a view option 464 associated with the ephemeral message. Whenthe option 464 is selected, the ephemeral message can be presented tothe user, for example, through an immersive content viewer. In someembodiments, ephemeral messages can be accessed by a user for apre-defined number of times (e.g., once, twice, etc.) after which theephemeral messages can no longer be accessed by the user. Once thispre-defined limit is reached, the view option associated with theephemeral message becomes a tombstone (or anchor) 466 to indicate that agiven member previously sent an ephemeral message. In some embodiments,two or more consecutively shown tombstones can be collapsedautomatically. For example, instead of displaying 12 consecutivetombstones corresponding to previously sent ephemeral messages, theinterface 462 can display one tombstone with a message indicating thatsome number of ephemeral messages were shared (e.g., “12 messages”). Insome embodiments, this collapsed tombstone can be selected (e.g.,long-pressed) to reveal information corresponding to each of thecollapsed ephemeral messages including, for example, the name of thesender, the type of content sent (e.g., photo, video), and acorresponding timestamp.

In some embodiments, ephemeral messages sent by the user operating thecomputing device 402 are not shown within the message thread interface462. In such embodiments, a corresponding tombstone or anchor (e.g., thetombstone 470) referencing the ephemeral message is shown. In someembodiments, the user can select (e.g., tap, long-press) the tombstone470 to view the ephemeral message for a pre-defined number of times(e.g., once, twice, etc.). In some embodiments, the option to view theephemeral message may be available only while the user is accessing theunified message thread 463 in the same session. In some embodiments, asession may be defined as a period of time during which the useraccesses a given unified message thread. In such embodiments, thesession begins when the user enters the unified message thread and endswhen the user exits the message thread. In various embodiments,non-ephemeral messages are also presented within the unified messagethread 463. For example, in FIG. 4G, a content item (e.g., video) sentby a user operating the computing device 402 as a non-ephemeral message468 is presented within the unified message thread 463. In someembodiments, a user that sent a message (e.g., ephemeral message or anon-ephemeral message) can recall the message provided that norecipients have viewed the message. Once recalled, no recipient of themessage will be able to access the message. In some embodiments, suchaccess restrictions for the message can be enabled by expiring a UniformResource Locator (URL) that references the message.

In some embodiments, seen states associated with ephemeral andnon-ephemeral messages can be provided. For example, in someembodiments, respective seen states 471 for a given message can indicatewhether the message was delivered to one or more users, viewed (oropened) by one or more users, or replayed by one or more users. In someembodiments, messages (e.g., non-ephemeral messages in a message thread,a tombstone corresponding to an ephemeral message) can be selected(e.g., tapped, long-pressed) to reveal respective seen states for eachrecipient of the message, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4H. Suchseen states can indicate, for a given user, whether the message wasdelivered to the user, whether the user viewed (or opened) the message,and/or whether the user replayed the message. In some embodiments, theseen state can indicate whether a given user took a screenshot of themessage.

In some embodiments, users can interact with ephemeral messages andnon-ephemeral messages in a given message thread 472. For example, insome embodiments, users can like messages 474 (e.g., double tap to like)sent by other members of the message thread, as illustrated in theexample of FIG. 4I.

In some embodiments, a first user may send an ephemeral message or anon-ephemeral message to any other user of the social networking system.In such embodiments, the message can be sent with a message request. Therecipient of the message can accept the message request to view themessage. For example, the recipient can accept or reject the messagerequest using options 478 in a message request interface 476, asillustrated in the example of FIG. 4J.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example method 500, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 502, a first ephemeral message to be shared through a firstunified message thread corresponding to a group of recipients isdetermined, the first ephemeral message being created by a useroperating the computing device. At block 504, the first ephemeralmessage can be provided to a social networking system for distributionto the group of recipients through the first unified message thread,wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchangedbetween the group of recipients through the same first unified messagethread.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example method 520, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 522, a messaging interface is provided, the messaging interfaceincluding one or more options for accessing at least one unified messagethread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages areexchanged between a group of users through the unified message thread.At block 524, a determination can be made that a user operating thecomputing device has created a message to be sent through the unifiedmessage thread. At block 526, the message can be provided fordistribution to the group of users through the unified message thread.

FIG. 5C illustrates an example method 540, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 542, a messaging interface can be provided. The messaginginterface including one or more options for accessing at least oneunified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages andnon-ephemeral messages are exchanged between a group of users throughthe unified message thread. At block 544, a determination can be madethat a user operating the computing device has accessed the unifiedmessage thread. At block 546, content relating to the unified messagethread can be provided for display through the computing device.

It is contemplated that there can be many other uses, applications,and/or variations associated with the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For example, in some cases, user can choose whether or notto opt-in to utilize the disclosed technology. The disclosed technologycan also ensure that various privacy settings and preferences aremaintained and can prevent private information from being divulged. Inanother example, various embodiments of the present disclosure canlearn, improve, and/or be refined over time.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 600 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The system 600 includes one or more user devices610, one or more external systems 620, a social networking system (orservice) 630, and a network 650. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 630. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system600, shown by FIG. 6, includes a single external system 620 and a singleuser device 610. However, in other embodiments, the system 600 mayinclude more user devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are separatefrom the social networking system 630 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 630 and the external systems 620 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 630. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 630 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 620, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices (or systems)that can receive input from a user and transmit and receive data via thenetwork 650. In one embodiment, the user device 610 is a conventionalcomputer system executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatibleoperating system (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. Inanother embodiment, the user device 610 can be a computing device or adevice having computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a laptop computer,a wearable device (e.g., a pair of glasses, a watch, a bracelet, etc.),a camera, an appliance, etc. The user device 610 is configured tocommunicate via the network 650. The user device 610 can execute anapplication, for example, a browser application that allows a user ofthe user device 610 to interact with the social networking system 630.In another embodiment, the user device 610 interacts with the socialnetworking system 630 through an application programming interface (API)provided by the native operating system of the user device 610, such asiOS and ANDROID. The user device 610 is configured to communicate withthe external system 620 and the social networking system 630 via thenetwork 650, which may comprise any combination of local area and/orwide area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 650 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 650 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network650 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 650 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content from theexternal system 620 and/or from the social networking system 630 byprocessing a markup language document 614 received from the externalsystem 620 and from the social networking system 630 using a browserapplication 612. The markup language document 614 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 614, the browser application 612 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 614. For example, the markup language document 614includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 620 and the social networking system 630. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 614 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 620 andthe user device 610. The browser application 612 on the user device 610may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document614.

The markup language document 614 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the Silverlight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or more cookies616 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 610 islogged into the social networking system 630, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system630 to the user device 610.

The external system 620 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 622 a, 622 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 610 using the network 650. The external system 620 is separatefrom the social networking system 630. For example, the external system620 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 630 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 622 a, 622 b, included in the external system 620, comprise markuplanguage documents 614 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content. Asdiscussed previously, it should be appreciated that there can be manyvariations or other possibilities.

The social networking system 630 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 630. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 630 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 630 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 630. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 630 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 630 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 630 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 630 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 630 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system630 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 630. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 630 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 630. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 630,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 630 or inthe external system 620, separate from the social networking system 630,or coupled to the social networking system 630 via the network 650.

The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 630 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 620 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 630 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 630. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 630 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 630 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system630. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 630. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 630 from a userdevice 610. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 630.In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 630.

The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632, an APIrequest server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection store 638, anaction logger 640, an activity log 642, and an authorization server 644.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 630 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 636 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 630. This information is storedin the user profile store 636 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 630 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store638. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 630 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 630, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 638.

The social networking system 630 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 636and the connection store 638 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 630. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store636 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 630initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 630, the social networking system 630 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 636, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 620 or connections to other entities. The connection store 638may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile store 636, andthe activity log 642 enables the social networking system 630 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 630, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 636 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 630. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 630 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 630). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 630. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 630 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to one or moreuser devices 610 and/or one or more external systems 620 via the network650. The web server 632 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 632 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system630 and one or more user devices 610. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 634 allows one or more external systems 620 anduser devices 610 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 630 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server634 may also allow external systems 620 to send information to thesocial networking system 630 by calling APIs. The external system 620,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system630 via the network 650, and the API request server 634 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 634 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 634 communicates to the external system 620via the network 650. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 634 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 620, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 620. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 communicates with the social networkingsystem 630 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 620.

The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity log 642 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system630 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 630 and outside of the social networking system 630.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 630 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 642 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 630 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 630, the action isrecorded in the activity log 642. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 630 maintains the activity log 642 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system630, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 642. Theactivity log 642 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 630,such as an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630. For example, the action logger 640 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 620 fromthe web server 632. In this example, the external system 620 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system620 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 620 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system630 that discusses an external system 620 or a web page 622 a within theexternal system 620, a user posting to the social networking system 630a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 620, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630.

The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 630. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 620, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems620. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 620 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 620 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 620 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 620 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 620, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 620 may need authorization from the authorization server644 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 644 determines if another user, the external system620, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can include acontent provider module 646. The content provider module 646 can, forexample, be implemented as the content provider module 102 of FIG. 1. Insome embodiments, the content provider module 646, in whole or in part,is also implemented in the user device 610. As discussed previously, itshould be appreciated that there can be many variations or otherpossibilities.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a computer system 700 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The computer system 700 includes sets ofinstructions for causing the computer system 700 to perform theprocesses and features discussed herein. The computer system 700 may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the computer system 700 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a client-server networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 700 may be the social networking system 630, the user device 610,and the external system 720, or a component thereof. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 700 may be one server among many thatconstitutes all or part of the social networking system 630.

The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache 704, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710couples processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/O busbridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network interfaces 716 couple to highperformance I/O bus 706. The computer system 700 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 718 and I/O ports 720 couple to the standard I/Obus 708. The computer system 700 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 716 provides communicationbetween the computer system 700 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 718 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor702. The I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 700.

The computer system 700 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 704 may be on-chip with processor 702. Alternatively,the cache 704 and the processor 702 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 700being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 700 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 700 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system700, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 702.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 718. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 716. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:determining, by a computing device, a first ephemeral message to beshared through a first unified message thread corresponding to a groupof recipients, the first ephemeral message being created by a useroperating the computing device; and providing, by the computing device,the first ephemeral message to a social networking system fordistribution to the group of recipients through the first unifiedmessage thread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeralmessages are exchanged between the group of recipients through the samefirst unified message thread.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the first ephemeral message is sent with a messagerequest to at least one recipient in the group, and wherein the firstephemeral message cannot be viewed by the recipient until the recipientaccepts the message request.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim2, wherein the recipient is permitted to view text associated with thefirst ephemeral message without having accepted the message request butnot the remainder of the first ephemeral message itself.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first ephemeralmessage is not shown to the user operating the computing device in thefirst unified message thread.
 5. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the user operating the computing device is permitted toview the first ephemeral message in the first unified message thread fora pre-defined number of times.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, the method further comprising: determining, by the computingdevice, that the user operating the computing device has selected anoption to recall the first ephemeral message; and preventing, by thecomputing device, recipients in the group from accessing the firstephemeral message.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein determining the first ephemeral message to be shared through thefirst unified message thread corresponding to a group of recipientsfurther comprises: providing, by the computing device, an interfaceincluding a set of options for sharing the first ephemeral message, theset of options including at least a first option for sharing the firstephemeral message as a story and a second option for sharing the firstephemeral message through the first unified message thread correspondingto the group of recipients; and determining, by the computing device,that the user operating the computing has selected at least the secondoption.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: determining, by the computing device, at least onenotification corresponding to the first ephemeral message, thenotification describing a seen state for a recipient in the group; andproviding, by the computing device, the notification for display throughthe computing device.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8,wherein the seen state indicates the first ephemeral message wasdelivered to the recipient, viewed by the recipient, or replayed by therecipient.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinaccess to the first ephemeral message expires after occurrence of somepre-defined event, and wherein access to a non-ephemeral message doesnot expire.
 11. A system comprising: at least one processor; and amemory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the system to perform: determining a first ephemeralmessage to be shared through a first unified message threadcorresponding to a group of recipients, the first ephemeral messagebeing created by a user operating a computing device; and providing thefirst ephemeral message to a social networking system for distributionto the group of recipients through the first unified message thread,wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchangedbetween the group of recipients through the same first unified messagethread.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first ephemeral messageis sent with a message request to at least one recipient in the group,and wherein the first ephemeral message cannot be viewed by therecipient until the recipient accepts the message request.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the recipient is permitted to view textassociated with the first ephemeral message without having accepted themessage request but not the remainder of the first ephemeral messageitself.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the first ephemeral messageis not shown to the user operating the computing device in the firstunified message thread.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the useroperating the computing device is permitted to view the first ephemeralmessage in the first unified message thread for a pre-defined number oftimes.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includinginstructions that, when executed by at least one processor of acomputing system, cause the computing system to perform a methodcomprising: determining a first ephemeral message to be shared through afirst unified message thread corresponding to a group of recipients, thefirst ephemeral message being created by a user operating a computingdevice; and providing the first ephemeral message to a social networkingsystem for distribution to the group of recipients through the firstunified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages andnon-ephemeral messages are exchanged between the group of recipientsthrough the same first unified message thread.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the firstephemeral message is sent with a message request to at least onerecipient in the group, and wherein the first ephemeral message cannotbe viewed by the recipient until the recipient accepts the messagerequest.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 17, wherein the recipient is permitted to view text associatedwith the first ephemeral message without having accepted the messagerequest but not the remainder of the first ephemeral message itself. 19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, whereinthe first ephemeral message is not shown to the user operating thecomputing device in the first unified message thread.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein theuser operating the computing device is permitted to view the firstephemeral message in the first unified message thread for a pre-definednumber of times.